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Ormat Reduces Exposure To Natural Gas Prices With New 10-Year Power Purchase Agreement For Heber 1

RENO, Nev., Sept. 6, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) announced today that it entered into a 10-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) to deliver electricity from its Heber 1 geothermal power plant at the Heber complex in Imperial Valley, California beginning December 16, 2015. The current PPA with Southern California Edison will expire December 15, 2015.

With an expected net generating capacity of 46 MW, Ormat will sell the power to SCPPA at an average price of approximately $85.62 per megawatt hour over the lifetime of the contract. The new pricing will increase Heber 1 revenues in 2016 by more than $7 million. SCPPA members that will receive power from Heber 1 are the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and the Imperial Irrigation District (IID).

"In our effort to replace all coal generation by 2025, LADWP sees the value in geothermal as an ideal coal replacer as a renewable, baseload solution with no integration costs," explained Aram Benyamin, senior assistant general manager – power at LADWP. "As we continue to incorporate more renewable assets into our portfolio, we will benefit from contracts like the Heber 1 PPA because it's a risk-free project with a credible owner-operator at an attractive price."

For IID, "The district is able to continue integrating renewable energy into its portfolio while at the same time supporting sustainability in the Imperial Valley by integrating our indigenous resources and the valuable jobs that are sustained by them into the mix," said Carl Stills, energy department manager. "We are thrilled to have contracted our first long-term geothermal project enabling the supply of electricity from a local resource."